narrator · None for the most part, but the Chorus, which appears intermittently
between scenes, provides background information and comments on
the action

point of view · While he sometimes cedes the stage to the Chorus or
the lesser, comic characters, Faustus is central figure in the play,
and he
has several long soliloquies that let us see things from his point
of view.

tone · Grandiose and tragic, with occasional moments of low
comedy

tense · The Chorus, who provides the only narration, alternates between
the present and past tenses.

setting (time) · The 1580s

setting (place) · Europe, specifically Germany and Italy

protagonist · Doctor Faustus

major conflict · Faustus sells his soul to Lucifer in exchange for
twenty-four years of immense power, but the desire to repent begins
to plague him as the fear of hell grows in him.

climax · Faustus’s sealing of the pact that promises his soul
to Lucifer

falling action · Faustus’s traveling of the world and performing of
magic for various rulers

themes · Sin, redemption, and damnation; the conflict between
medieval and Renaissance values; absolute power and corruption;
the dividedness of human nature

motifs · Magic and the supernatural; practical jokes

symbols · Blood; Faustus’s rejection of the ancient authorities;
the good angel and the evil angel

foreshadowing · The play constantly hints at Faustus’s ultimate
damnation. His blood congeals when he tries to sign away his soul;
the words Homo fuge, meaning “Fly, man!”, appear on his arm after
he makes the pact; and he is constantly tormented by misgivings
and fears of hell.

Answer: Dr. Faustus, the main character of the story, is a professor of divinity at Wittenberg, as well as a renowned physician and scholar. Not satisfied with the limitations of human knowledge and power, he begins to practice necromancy. He eventually makes a deal with Lucifer (commonly referred to as the "Faustian bargain"), whereby he exchanges his soul for twenty-four years of the devil’s ... Read more→

Answer: Faustus’s inexhaustible thirst for knowledge , his worship of beauty , his passion for the classics , his skepticism , his interest in sorcery and magic , his admiration of Machiavelli and super –human ambition and will in the pursuit of ideals of beauty or power, prove him to be a man of renaissance.

Faustus appears as a man of the Renaissance in the very opening scene when... Read more→